‘Being There’ at Down East

Just because the weather says it’s spring doesn’t mean ski movies should be taken off your Netflix queue. The Down East is making sure the ski season stays alive and strong next Wednesday with the showing of the 2011 ski film “Being There” and slush-skiing rock of the band Salem from Breckenridge, Colo.

The one-hour film by Norway-based Field Productions is the eighth ski movie on the company’s curriculum vitae, featuring Norway’s biggest names in modern freeskiing from big mountain to big jumps.

Following in the footsteps of the forever-popular Warren Miller, the film’s crew travels to Sweden, Norway and Japan with HD cameras for scenic shots and difficult lines. A few of the film’s crew also will be present for the showing at Down East.

To end the evening, the composers of the film’s soundtrack, Salem, will perform a blend of funk, hip-hop and jazz beats. Frontman Todd Anders Johnson and Salem have shuffled in and out of Homer for years with a number of their tour stops in Seldovia and Valdez.

“It will be neat to watch the film, hear the soundtrack and then to hear the actual band play live afterwards,” said Down East’s Entertainment Coordinator Nancy Deaver.

Salem is a part of Risan Project, an organization with the mission to educate about climate change through glacier science. When not touring Alaska’s glacial communities, Salem performs with the Risan Project message at festivals and snow sports events such as the X Games, U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix and Canadian Freeskiing Championships.

The movie will start at 7 p.m. at Down East Saloon and the band at 8 p.m. The cover is $7, with all proceeds going to the film crew and band.